April's Pictures

Says what it does on the tin really. I was going to call it Blackpool Tower Mix but decided to check that I actually had got it right before I named it and found the only reference to Blackpool Tower Mix was me. That's when I realised that I was two things, the first is that I am predictable and the second is I am wrong. The actual phrase I was searching for was Blackpool Tower Suite which was a fantastic World of Twist EP which I still have and must listen to again if I didn't wear it out in the early nineties.

Try as I might I never seem to be able to get a good picture of the tower, but then again mainly when I go to Blackpool pictures are usually far from my mind as I am always stunned by how cheap the place looks. This weekend we were out at the Winter Gardens for a show. Of course I do have a picture of the Winter Gardens too, the only problem being is that again there's no way to get a good pic of that too with it having the same problem as the Tower which is the problem of the proximity of all the other 60's/70's buildings messing the shot up.

From the room this weekend you could see this which is unfortunately tainted by the reflection in the window. Unlike the last picture of the Macdonald Hotel, this doesn't help with reflections.

There's nothing much to say about this apart from the blue sky doesn't hint the fact that it was bitterly cold outside which would have meant that we'd have stayed in the hotel but for the fact that they seemed to be hosting some sort of Manchester United thing -probably for the match on Sunday. Not that it was a problem that it was Manchester United but more that the bar and restaurant would be packed. Not a good place to have an Anniversary.

At last Ossington Court I finally got there and it wasn't as impressive as I first thought, however I think I didn't get in the right position. As soon as I got there I started to look for a good picture and as soon as I did I got the usual “Hey why are you taking pictures” from some kids behind me. I sighed a little inside hoping to get a couple of shots before I had to explain myself in the best I could. After I took a couple the children the oldest being perhaps five or six were right next to me and I'm trying to explain why I was taking pictures which I couldn't explain too much other than saying “because I want to” at which point the children launched into many stories about the block such as yesterday some people who had gained access to the flats had started shouting abuse at them, and the time when one of their Mums had to rescue their cat from the top floor and one about a fire and one about a lady who jumped off the top because people were after her. They seems really nice children, happy to talk to me and to answer my question as to whether the block was going to be demolished, the reply was that it was going to be demolished because “the council was really mad at the place” which prompted another one to ask “Are you the council?” I knew though whatever I answered I would be right even if I worked for the council, I definitely wasn't the whole council, but this wasn't the time to be pedantic to these polite kids. I said no because I am in no way part of the council at which one of them said “I told you” to the other one. Fearing that whilst the kids were quite polite I really didn't want to be hanging around too much, whilst I'm no danger to anyone (apart from myself on occasions) I'm not really sure that's what any one of the parents might be thinking seeing their kids talking to a strange man with a camera, so said I had to go and said bye and got very polite bye back.

At the risk of finding myself at an uber-modern hotel I booked to stay at the Macdonald hotel anyway for our Anniversary. After the disappointment of the uber-modern Hilton last year it was looking like a bad idea even whilst I was booking. I must admit I was pleasantly surprised. This being the view from the end of the top floor, the views are not bad at all, though it's probably not high enough this side of town for really impressive views. I do think that the reflecting in the windows make this picture as well as the window frames. Looking at the building it does make me wonder what the building was like to work in as a former BT building and how much of the original still exists

I have always wanted to get live action shots but with my very poor camermanship I can never do it with a one shot 35mm, so I have to rely on the Sports facility of the QTEK 9100. It takes one shot a second as long as you hold the shutter... well button. Quite hard to do as the viewfinder you have is the screen that freezes to take the picture so waving the camera phone in the air is the order of the day. This is an archive picture from 2006 when we were at Tatton Park. Why this picture now? Well I had a self levelling floor to lay and a kitchen to put back together. There was hope that I'd go down to Ossington Court which sounds better than is it. It's an empty block og flats and has been empty for years. I heard that Ian Simpson was going to renovate it but by the sounds of it the demands of the council made it unprofitable so the last I heard it was going to be demolished with a date of the 17th of March 2008. That date being in the past I suspect it's only a matter of time until it goes so I'd better hurry up. I don't know why I would like to take a pic of it but I drive past it on the M60 so many times it does make you wonder what's round it; and the fact that every window is broken perhaps panders to my love of the run down just like the Duke of Lancaster I suspect.